Blogging and Democracy

The Senate Site is a great example of how small inexpensive tools can provide huge wins for democracy. The Senate Site is a group blog sponsored by the majority leadership of the Utah Senate, but people who aren't senators or members of the majority party also write sometimes.

To see why I think this is a valuable tool, look at this post by Sen. Buttars on his proposed legislation to control how teachers talk about the origin of life. I think the bill is ridiculous, but I'll save that for later. What I'm more interested in here is that there is honest conversation happening about proposed legislation. Sen. Buttars may not like this particular feedback, but I hope that doesn't color the view of elected officials about how important this is. I think the Senate Site has become a very valuable asset in Utah's political discourse.